TWT Chapter - 2

9 years later . . .
 

Brietta Caprice crept slowly through the forest, peeking around each tree and under each bush. The summer sky was cloudless and the hot sun warmed her bare shoulders where her tank top straps didn’t cover. She wiped the sweat from her brow, re-adjusted her ponytail and sighed. There were better things a 16 year old could be doing aside from goofing around in the forest with her sister and cousin. Though she would never admit it, she secretly enjoyed it. The kids at school were sometimes unkind to her, as she never quite broke free from her childhood stutter. But, it didn’t hold her back; she was an excellent student, and first chair clarinet in band class. Placing her hands on her hips, she cried out, “Ok! I give! Where are you guys?” A giggle came from a nearby hollow log, and out crawled 13 year old Dovie. “Hah! I w-would have never thought to l-look for you there!” Brietta laughed. Dovie grinned and brushing herself off she asked, “Where’s Bo? Bet you didn’t find him! You knew wouldn’t, cause I know where he hid.” Brietta shrugged as Dovie took off running to the large tree Abbott had climbed minutes before. “Ok you little stinker, time to come down!” Dovie called from the bottom of the tree. No leaves rustled, and no branches shook to indicate that he was climbing down. “Where has he run off to?” she huffed. “Looks like we’re b-both seekers now” Brietta said in a snarky tone. Dovie shot her a look, and the two went searching for their cousin. 

Abbott Winterdale was affectionately known as “Bo” by his family and friends, and had grown into a tall skinny boy of nine who now sported his auburn hair in a shaggy style. He spent his days tinkering with lego’s and building small models. “What a great architect you will make someday” his Aunt Giana often told him. Mostly he was a happy boy, but always felt a space in his heart for his lost sister. After 3 years of searching, hoping, and waiting, his poor mother couldn’t handle the sorrow of her daughter any longer and fell into a heavy depression. Rarely leaving the bedroom, a nurse was brought in to care for her. With Lance working the farm single-handed, there wasn’t much time to raise little Abbott, and so he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle. Gentry Talbot threw a fit when learning this, and suggested that the boy come to live with them. Lance knew Mira would hate the idea of him being brought up in that lifestyle and refused his mother’s offer. There was also suggestion of hiring a nanny, but Lance refused this as well, for he didn’t want a total stranger raising his son. His family also offered to give him money so that he could stay home and raise Abbott. All he had to do was help Preston cover up some legal documents that he may or may not have lied about. “I will not be a part of your illegal scandals!” he had shouted the moment the horrible idea was mentioned. So it was that little Abbott was sent to northern California to live with Denver and Giana Caprice. Of course he saw his parents often throughout the year, all of the holidays, birthdays and school breaks. It broke his heart to see them though, tired and careworn. He remembered his promise to find his sister and he read many books that were close to the circumstances with her disappearance, hoping to find anything to help him find Arista.

“There you are! You’re not even hiding, and you left the game area we talked about!” Dovie shouted playfully. Bo simply stood stiff as a board at the edge of the forest staring. Brietta shrugged and exchanged confused looks with Dovie as the two made their way over to him. The forest looked out onto a small meadow, and across the way by the river stood two figures. “W-what are you doing?” Brietta whispered to Abbott. As he snapped out of his stare he replied, “I think I just saw…Let’s get closer.” He turned on his heel and walked around the meadow, taking care to stay hidden in the envelope of the thick forest tree’s. Dovie and Brietta followed quickly behind him as he hopped from stone to fallen tree branch, and over roots in the ground. Finally slowing down, the group carefully peered around the trunk of a huge tree. Bo pulled them out of sight and softly said, “There were three of them before. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but something strange happened to one of them, and then he fell to the ground.” Davita shrugged, “They were probably just playing around.” Bo frowned, “No Dovie…I think they died or something.” Brietta ruffled his hair and he ducked from her reach. “Hey! D-don’t worry little cuz. If it makes you f-feel better we can stay and c-check it out.” Dovie thought for a moment, then agreed, and Bo gave her a nod. 

They inched over to another tree, closer to the unknown couple. Once within earshot they could make out a guy and girl, both appeared to be in their early 20’s and were clearly having some type of disagreement. “Will you not heed the warning, and end up like Pearson? How sad that she sends such weak messenger’s!” the guy scoffed. His slim frame wore some strange type of business suit and he was dressed all in blue with a small raindrop emblem on the chest pocket. He stared at the girl, waiting for her response, but she scowled at him, and the two seemed to stare at one another for several moments. Her long brown hair hung past her waist, and she too wore a strange outfit; a deep maroon jacket with large pointed shoulders paired with black pants. On her jacket there was a flame-like patch, and she placed her hand over it, closing her eyes before she answered. “You should know that her first instinct was to ignore your requests. She however felt it to be helpful to at least learn how and why you are able to rally on land now, and what plans there are on your side. Presenting your request, and then slaughtering one of my kind is not the smartest way to get your point across” she said with her head held high. She glanced down at a man lying on the ground, he wore the same uniform as her, and was dead as a door nail. 

The man in blue thought for a moment, then spoke again, “My apologies Veeda, your higher up made the wise decision to have you meet me here. All Eleck wants is to form a legion between us; Fluxian and Thermic. Though I can’t fully disclose the details, if the people of Thermo join forces with us I can guarantee our leader will discuss granting you all immunity.” Veeda frowned angrily and folded her arms before grunting out, “How dare the people of Flux insult us with this proposal after our ancestors violent history! No, Arlo! I won’t even dare mention this to the leaders of Thermo, or anyone else for that matter!” She now placed her hands on her hips in a no nonsense sort of way. “Then, I’m afraid you will end up like our friend Pearson…” Arlo snarled as he pointed to the dead man on the ground. He then extended his arm out and made a scooping motion toward the river. As he did this a sphere of water shot at Veeda, and upon hitting her flesh it stretched and completely surrounded her. She was suspended inside the water bubble, and appeared to be drowning. Her eyes grew wide with fear as her lungs filled with water, and a black smoke billowed in the water. The smoke, it seemed was coming from her hair and fingernails; as if they would be on fire if not submerged in water. She clutched her throat in panic, then placed both palms against the edge of the water bubble. With her last bit of air she screamed, “STOOOP!” Arlo rolled his eyes and thrust his pointer finger into the air, as though popping a bubble. In this motion the water bubble burst, shooting water every direction. Veeda collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air, and whispered, “Ok…I’ll do it. I’ll give her the message.” Arlo smiled a twisted smile and snidely replied, “There’s a good girl.” He brushed off his shoulders, and started to walk toward the river calling out over his shoulder, “We’ll set up a time to hear her decision.” As he reached the river’s edge he walked straight in, and disappeared.

Finally catching her breath, Veeda stood sopping wet where Arlo had left her. She huffed angrily and mumbled something to herself. All of the sudden the ends of her hair and fingernails indeed caught on fire and she spun in a slow circle. When she had finished it was clear that she was totally dry once again, and she walked over and gazed down at Pearson. The flames now left her, all but her pointer fingernail and she crouched down to the man. “Dear friend and fellow messenger, you will be missed”, she said softly. Then pressing her flaming nail against his heart, his whole body was immersed in flames, and he vanished into a little puff of black smoke. Quickly Veeda caught the smoke in a little vile and tied it around her neck, “Great! Just great! Wait til Sloane Winterdale hears about this!” With that a smokey circle appeared, she stepped through it as it closed behind her, and she was gone.

The three of them stood perfectly still, unable to even speak. Dovie tried to finally talk, but it came out in merely a whisper, “What…just happened?” Brietta thought for a moment, then made a guess, “M-Maybe it was a magician?” Dovie raised her eyebrows and scoffed in disbelief, “A magician?…Really? Did that look like a magician to you?” She gazed at her sister in disbelief, and Brietta shrugged her shoulders. “It w-was just a guess.. I have n-no idea what that was” she answered. Dovie nodded, “Yea I know…at least you had a guess. Sorry for snapping at you, I just…” “You were scared” Bo cut in. Dovie looked sheepishly at Bo, she was almost never scared of anything! But, this…this strange other world stuff, yea it scared her a bit. “What? I’m not scared!” she lied. “It’s ok to be scared, honestly I’m quite worried as well. I’ve read about something like this, but I don’t remember much about it. Whatever it is, I don’t think we should mention it to your mom and dad just yet. The thing that concerns me oddly enough, is that my Aunt Sloane is somehow involved” Bo stated. “W-why not? They s-should know about this!” Brietta exclaimed. “I think he’s right. They have enough to worry about, and if his other aunt is involved who knows what’s going on” Dovie added. “Are you suggesting that Mom and Dad are p-part of this!?” Brietta said in a shocked voice. “Of course not, but we have no clue what this is about and I think we should just be careful” said Bo. Brietta sighed, “Ok, but I d-don’t think it’s a good idea!” Brietta thought being the oldest she should have the final say, but she hated conflict and decided that the others were right, and they should wait to talk about it with any one else. 

As they walked back home, they talked fervently about what they saw. Wondering what the man Arlo was talking about, how Sloane Winterdale was somehow part of this, and of course about the mysterious power over the water. “He said about working together, F-Flexus and something…” Brietta mentioned. “Yea! Only that wasn’t the name. What was it?” Dovie chimed in. “Fluxian and Thermic” Bo answered. “What does that mean?” Dovie asked. She was sure whatever it was, wasn’t good. “I’m not sure…but we’re going to find out! I just remembered where I read about this kind of thing. There’s a book in the town that had something similar” He replied. “W-well let’s go there! C’mon, let’s see if M-Mom will give us a ride!” Brietta told them. “Ah, yet another perfect example of why you should’ve gotten your driver’s license by now” Dovie taunted playfully. “Hey! I’m working on it!” Brietta laughed slightly. “Race ya!” Bo shouted and they took off running towards the house.

The sun was still shining brightly by the time they reached home, and a positively lovely smell was floating through the air as they entered. Giana had been baking some tasty treats and was singing in the kitchen. Her tone was way off and her awkward singing danced through the front hall to where the children stood. They exchanged pained looks before making their way to the kitchen to silence the dying bird. “Well, my ears are bleeding, but at least she’s in a good mood” Dovie whispered, and Brietta clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. Upon entering the kitchen, they found Giana hovering over some delicious looking cupcakes with sparkly blue icing and topped with little yellow sprinkles. “I knew you were home! I could smell you when you came in!” she joked, “You kids want some cupcakes? I just finished them.” They all nodded and reached for a treat, but Giana popped them each on the hand, “My word! It’s like I’ve raised heathens! Go wash up first, did you forget?” She fussed at them to “Wash them good!”, and took the basket of blackberries the kids picked earlier. 

“Ya know, I was thinking why do we have to go all the way to the library to look in some old book? Why don’t we just try to look it up here at home?” Dovie questioned. “Trust me I’ve tried. Every time I do research on it I just get referred to that book” Bo replied as he washed his hands. He stared at the water as it continuously ran across his hands, and Brietta gently turned the tap off. “I think they’re clean buddy” she said offering him the hand towel. Bo was always intrigued by the water; the way it flowed, the way it felt as it trickled across his skin. Such an interesting element water was to him. One minute it could be like a mirror, still and smooth. Another minute it could be strong and sharp, crashing its way through. Other times it was steady, soft and gentle, easing itself along. His mind shot back to the unexplainable happenings from earlier, then to the book they were supposed to be studying. His family was used to him sort of zoning out like that sometimes when he was using water, and they tried to get him to snap out of it. They chalked it up to being some kind of traumatic moment due to his current situation with his parents and twin. “C-Come on! I want one of those cupcakes!” Brietta smiled. Noticing Dovie had already left the bathroom, Bo grinned. He knew she would already be on her second cupcake by the time he and Brietta returned to the kitchen.

Sure enough, upon entering the kitchen, the two found Dovie laughing happily as she slid her finger across the icing of her second cake. Giana reached over and collected the first cupcakes wrapper and shook her head, “Honestly Davita what will I do with you?” she asked playfully. Abbott and Brietta took their seats as Giana offered them glasses of milk. “Those are some great looking blackberries.  I was thinking of making a meatloaf for dinner, and following it with a delicious blackberry cobbler!” she smiled at them. “Mmm….with vanilla ice cream?” Dovie asked hungrily before sucking the icing from her pointer finger. Giana raised a brow, “No ice cream this time…and I think, missy that you’ve had enough sugar for one day!” Dovie frowned and shrugged then looked at her Mother eagerly. “Now what?” Giana said with a laugh. Brietta caught Davita’s eye and Giana looked back and forth at them curiously. “M-Mom we were wondering if you might drive us into town. We’re wanting t-to visit the library” Brietta stammered. “There’s a lot of great books we want to take a look at” Bo piped up as he finished his treat. Giana’s face lit up in surprise, “Wow! Now that IS a request! Not a lot of kids want to spend their time hanging out at the library nowadays. I’ll be glad to take you…” “Yes!” the children cheered in response. “Tomorrow afternoon we can all take a trip to the library. You never know, I might find something I like as well” Giana continued as she began preparing the cobbler.

That night after dinner, the children got their showers and into their pajamas. Bo went to Brietta’s room to discuss how they would look up what they needed without her mother noticing. He gently knocked on the door and heard her welcome him in. Brietta’s room was the largest of the three children’s rooms, it was always neat and tidy, and had a large bay window. When he entered the room, he found her pulling back the fluffy purple comforter of her canopy bed and she asked him what was going on. “I was just thinking…how are we going to research this weird stuff with your Mom right there? I mean, what if we wanna check the book out?” he wondered. Brietta thought for a moment, “S-Should we just tell her?” Seeing the look on Bo’s face though, she quickly offered an alternative idea. “D-Did you ask Dovie? Maybe she has a good idea.” Bo shook his head but suggested that they go ask her. 

Down the hall in Dovie’s room they found her hunched over a large piece of brown paper in the middle of the floor. It was a wonder she had found a space to work in all that mess. Davita was interested in art, and like most artists her room was a complete disaster zone. An easel was situated by the big window and art supplies were scattered from wall to wall, well except the space she had cleared on the floor. “I know why you’re here, and don’t worry, I have a plan. I’ll mention to Mom that the library has a lot of great cookbooks she can take a look at. That will keep her busy, meanwhile we go grab the book and check it out. Then, we’ll take this book cover I’ve made, and slide it over it. Problem solved” she smiled. “Yea, that will work great! Good thinking cousin!” Bo excitedly added. Brietta felt strange in her gut about this whole business, but knew the other two wouldn’t listen. Maybe she should just tell her parents anyways, after all what were two little kids gonna do about it. On the other hand, she wasn’t the type of girl who liked to get mixed up in matters like this and so she simply instructed them that it was time for bed. 

Once in his bedroom, Abbott’s mind was filled with thoughts and questions about the strange people they saw earlier. “How could my aunt be involved with such things” he asked himself. The dark green walls of his room were covered with posters of space and glow in the dark solar systems that shown brightly in the darkness of the night. As he lay in bed the moon shone down on him through his bedroom window, his thoughts turned to his sister, and he wondered if these peculiar events had something to do with her. “I know you’re out there somewhere Arista…” he whispered softly before he dozed off to sleep.

Bo opened his eyes, and sat upright in his bed. He glanced at his bedside clock that read 4:02am. Something was wrong, he never woke up in the night like this. What he didn’t know however was that on occasion he would sleep walk around the house. Most of the time his Uncle Denver would hear him, and gently guide him back to bed. But, sometimes Abbott would do strange things before wandering back to his room, like the time he left the bathroom sink running. Water had seeped all the way into the hall before Brietta had awoken for a restroom break, and saw the mess. This sleepwalking had only happened a handful of times, and such as it’s not uncommon, no one thought anything of it.

Strange it was though that he should awake tonight. Something caught his eye in the mirror, but when he turned to see what was creating the reflection, nothing was there. Suddenly he realized that he was drenched from head to toe, completely soaked with water. “Ugh…” he mumbled in half asleep confusion.  As he dried himself, and changed into some new pajama’s he tried to think of what could have happened. “Surely you didn’t wet yourself” he thought he heard someone say. He spun around quickly, but there was no one there. “Great now I’m hearing things” he thought to himself before crawling back into bed.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was to his cousin shaking him awake. “C’mon get up Mom’s ready to go! She said she needs to talk to you about something. Get up sleepy bones!” Dovie said shaking his shoulders. “Ok, ok I’m up” Bo said rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Dovie popped out of his room, and he threw on some clothes. Once everyone was ready to leave, Giana pulled Abbott to the side and told him that they needed to have a quick talk. Denver was already waiting for them when they entered the study. Bo never went in his uncles office, none of the children did, only his uncles building clients were allowed. Sometimes very important people would come by to discuss work for large buildings. “Can’t have you guys underfoot when I’ve got business to take care of” Denver would often tell Abbott and the girls. So, when Giana brought him in there Bo might have guessed it was something important..

Denver’s expression was serious as he gazed out the window through the maroon curtains. “Yes Uncle?” Bo asked curiously. Denver’s gaze broke and he turned to the boy. He stood up tall and got right to the point, “It appears that your grandparent’s want you to come live with them. Your aunt and I refused but, they pressed us and said they never get to see you. With your parents permission, we’ve reached a compromise. We’ve all decided that you can go out for a visit to your grandparents place, but will be returning here a short time after. How do ya like that?” Abbott thought for a moment, “But I like it here…and there is no one to play with there. Do I have to go?” Giana stared at the floor quietly, and subtly wiped a few tears from her eyes. Denver pressed his lips together and he wore a frown. It was clear that his aunt and uncle were unhappy with this news, and after a moment, Denver respond to his nephew. “Well Bo, sometimes life gives us new experiences, and new adventures to be part of. Sometimes it’s tough when you’re a kid, most of these decisions are made for you. But, just know that the people that care about you always have your best interests in mind. Of course, we love having you here, but this is how it must be for now” Denver replied downheartedly. The thought of living with his grandparents made Abbott’s heart sink. He barely knew these people, and had only spent time with them a few hours here and there for holidays when visiting his parents. Cold, strict and status driven he knew the type of life that awaited him, and he shuddered at the thought. “There now, it won’t be so bad dear, and you will be returning soon after. Your father talked as though it was just for the summer” Giana added in an attempt to comfort the boy. “Yea? Well I know how father feels about them, and I know mother wouldn’t have it! What says she about this?” Abbott snapped before he could stop himself. 

His eyes stung as he fought back the tears that were trying to break free. “How could they do this? First he lost his sister, then he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, and now he’s being shipped off to his grandparents? What next!?” he angrily thought. “Your father felt that in her fragile condition, perhaps it best if your mother isn’t bothered by these events” his uncle explained. Bo could feel the blood being pumped forcefully through his veins. He dare not speak, for fear of what he might say. Giana gently stroked his hair lovingly, “You will leave in a few days. I thought while we’re in town today I could pick out some nice clothes for your visit. Won’t that be nice?” his aunt asked him. Abbott gave an apathetic shrug, and rose heading toward the door. Denver grabbed his arm and pulled him into a tight hug, “We’ll get ya back boy, don’t you worry.” Giana kissed his forehead and wrapped her arms around the both of them. “We love you nephew, love you like we would our own son” she whispered. 

Abbott decided he wouldn’t mention his going away just yet. He wanted to enjoy the day and occupy his mind with finding out more about the mysterious people in the meadow. Too soon his days would be filled with lessons on how to be a proper gentlemen, and a successful businessman. He knew they would never let him leave, with his being the only grandson of the family. Denver kissed Giana goodbye, and left to make his way to a job site. “Ok everyone, let’s go” Giana called as she rounded up the kids. On the way into town Bo stared out the window and gazed at the ripples on the lake as they were passing. The sun reflected brightly on it’s shining surface. He thought how great a swim would be right now, diving into the crisp clear water, gliding through the water weightlessly as it carried him. “OW!” he cried as a pain erupted in his side. “I said what’s going on with you?” Dovie repeated. “Oh nothing, I’m just tired is all” Bo lied. “Well get focused! We need your help today” she whispered. “What are you two whispering about back there? Trying to decide on a song for me to play?” Giana playfully guessed. Davita rolled her eyes and whined, “Moooom!” Brietta laughed from the front seat, “C-Come on it will be fun!” She reached over and switched on the radio, and turned up the volume. As soon as the first beat sounded, Giana gasped. “Oh my! I love this song!” she cheered before singing along loudly. 

The car sped along and soon they had reached town. Quailsburg was an average sized town, perfect for day to day activities. Every so often the family would take a trip to the big city an hour or so away. Those trips were always fun because they would stop at Neilson McDoogals. It was the best comic book store in the tri-county, and Abbott loved it there. He sat day dreaming about it’s rows and rows of comic adventure, and wished they were going there As Mrs. Caprice pulled the car up to the library, Abbott’s thoughts left the comic book store. The group of them climbed the stone steps to the front of the library, and entered the large wooden doors. The library had two floors with books filling every shelf, and right down the middle there was a grand staircase. “Look at all of these books!” Giana smiled. “They even have a whole section just for cooking, did you know?” Dovie explained enthusiastically. “Ooo! How wonderful! I bet I can find a ton of recipes… Ok you kids have fun! Meet me at the front desk in 2 hours” she whispered as she took off for the cookbooks. 

The children made a plan to split up and search the library for anything even slightly related to what they saw in the meadow. They agreed that Brietta and Abbott would go to the non-fiction and history section upstairs. “What about you?” Brietta asked her sister. “Fairytales, that’s a good place to start. Surely there is something in one of those books that is similar to what happened” Dovie explained before she made her way to the fiction department. 

Upstairs Abbott cracked open a book called, “H2O: Water Powered Mills”. Brietta dove into a few promising looking books about creatures of the ocean. But almost an hour later they were no closer to finding out any information. Dovie had joined them upstairs and shared her findings. “Heh, not a lot of people up here. I guess it’s not as popular as downstairs. Anyhow, I know it’s a stretch but I found some old storybook that talked about mermaids and people of Atlantis; an underwater community” she told them. “Hmm t-that is a stretch, but something in history must have happened t-to make someone think there might be mermaids and such”  Brietta mentioned. “That doesn’t really talk about water control though…” Bo added.

 “Sounds like you need to visit Carrigan’s” a man’s voice whispered. All three of them jumped from the unexpected arrival of someone else. The man was old and balding, he was frail and his face weathered but his eyes were kind. “The antique shop? What’s there?” Dovie asked. The three of them were baffled by this man. They wondered what he could possibly know about the strange effects they witnessed. “Saw somethin’ strange with water, didn’t ya? Yep, that’s why you need to go to the antique shop. There’s a book there called “The Legend of the Stars”, well that is, if it’s still there. Read that, it’ll have your answers” the man explained. With that he turned and walked around the corner to the next aisle of books. “Hey, wait! That was pretty vague! Tell us what you know!” Dovie called after him as she darted around the corner. 

“That was weird…” Brietta said under her breath. “C’mon” Bo said grabbing her arm. A few aisles down they found Dovie standing dumbfounded, and she threw her hands into the air. “Surely the old man didn’t go too far..” she said in confusion. As they stood wondering, Abbott went over things in his mind. Finally he said, “Let’s go to the shop!” The girls spun around and gazed at him as if he had lost his marbles. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s just down the street and we still have a little over an hour before we have to meet your mom. I have to know more about this. It’s not natural, and…” Bo trailed off. “…And?” Dovie said to encourage him to finish his sentence. “…And, I have an odd feeling that it might have to do with my sister” he finished. Brietta glanced at the ground, and Dovie tried her best to hold her tongue. “Bo, your sister has been gone a very long time. It’s best to live for the future, and leave the past in the past. Everyone has stopped looking for her by now, and tried to move on the best they can” Davita gently explained. Abbott clenched his fists together tightly, “Well I haven’t!”, he said through gritted teeth. He turned on his heel and stormed off quickly. “N-Now you’ve done it! Sometimes you’re too honest with him, he’s j-just a little kid” Brietta snapped. “I didn’t mean it to sound so harsh, you know I mean well. Just, sometimes the words come out before I have time to really think about them” Dovie said downheartedly. “Well c’mon on then, let’s go find him” Brietta huffed as she tugged her sister by the hand. 

The girls knew exactly where to look for their cousin first. Carrigan’s was the only antique shop in their little town, but it had much to offer. The front of the shop was a modest size, but as one ventured towards the back, it grew wider and one almost felt as if they were in a huge warehouse. Renwo Carrigan was a kind middle-aged man who took over the antique shop when his father passed away a few years back. Organization however, was not his forte, and the shop remained intriguing, but disorganized. Everything was sort of placed where ever there was space for it, and sometimes you really had to do some digging if you were looking for something specific. Large windows allowed the sunlight to pour in, and it gave the illusion that the merchandise was a shimmering golden hue. “Welcome! Carrigan’s welcomes you!” Renwo greeted them as the girls entered the shop. They waved and asked if a young boy had been through. Mr. Carrigan raised his bushy brown eyebrows, and stroked his beard as he replied, “Little red-headed guy? Yea, he came in a few minutes ago asking about some old book. I told him most of that sort of thing is kept in the back corner of the shop.” 

They thanked him, and wandered towards the back end of the store. Dovie wondered why they didn’t go there more often, as she gazed at beautiful paintings, and crystal animal figures. Brietta even spotted some antique jewelry that was glittering in a glass case. After getting a little side tracked, they found Bo rummaging through some old chests, in search of the book. “Bo…” Dovie carefully called to him. He turned to face her but then frowned and continued looking through an old toy chest. “You found me I see” he mumbled. Dovie continued “Look, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. It didn’t come out right. I-” “Yea, no kidding! You know if Brietta was gone you would never stop looking for her! Am I the only one that even cares about Arista? Everyone else has given up! Well, not me! I know she’s out there somewhere, and I’ll never stop looking for her, ever!” he said as his voice shook. “Aw, Bo! You’re right, and of course we care! We’ll help you find her” Davita said softly. Then she wrapped her arms around her cousin and held him tightly as Brietta joined in on the hug. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a tear slip out of Abbott’s eye, and she kissed him on the head. “We are here for you b-buddy! Brietta added.

The three broke out of the hug and Abbott turned away from them, continuing to sort through a stack of old books. Brietta turned her attention to a desk a few feet away, and Davita wandered down the aisle even further. A very large, very interesting painting had caught her eye. The paint was smeared thickly across it’s rugged canvas, and a dark bronze frame displayed it beautifully. Wicker furniture was placed nearby, and a tall lamp with fake vines twisted around it stood just in front of the painting. Carefully Dovie moved the lamp so she could get a better look. The range of purple hues displayed on the painting made her eyes light up. She absentmindedly ran her fingertips along the hand-carved frame as she gazed at the paintings brush strokes. “Ouch” she suddenly said in a hushed voice. She held her pointer finger up and noticed it had been pierced by something sharp. Gazing around the side of the frame she noticed how quite deep this frame was; more like a box. A small latch seemed to be holding it together, and she reached out to open it. “That’s what I must’ve pricked my finger on” she thought to herself. 

Slowly she lifted the latch, and the front of the painting opened slightly. Dovie raised her eyebrows in surprise. She opened the frame quickly, eager to see what she might find. But, something heavy fell out and landed on her foot. “Ouch!” she muttered for the second time in five minutes. What ever fell onto her foot was the only thing that seemed to be behind the frame, and she bent down to pick it up. She stared at it a moment, and slowly called out, “Um, guys…I think you need to see this.” Abbott and Brietta rushed over to her, eyes wide with interest. Dovie told them about the painting, and showed them what she had found. “No way…” Abbott breathed. “I d-don’t believe it!” Brietta chimed in. For in Davita’s hand was a very old looking book titled, “The Legend of the Stars”.